Looking for new places to ride in Western MA....

[ruckerz]

Feeling kind of silly askin (considering this IS western mass and all),


but I'm looking for new places to ride.... I'm in Amherst and I've pretty much done all of the Holyoke Range / Batchelor St. area. Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely great and Eric Barnes (and others) have done a great job with trail making and mapping. However, I want to see what else is out in this great part of the state before I leave next year for graduate school. Hopefully somewhere with greater elevation / breathing taking views that is just as well mapped (not like those crappy DEM state forest maps :)).


Also if someone has a detailed map for Savoy Mountain State Forest? I'm doing a camping trip there Labor Day weekend with some other folks and was thinking of riding most of it.


Thanks

ruckerz

[steve_b]

In extreme western mass try Mt Greylock, Pittstown sf, and Yukon Ridge. All 3 require a lot
of climbing however. (Especially Greylock). Beartown sf, and October mtn are supposed to be good as well. Have you been to DAR ? It's closer to your area and is supposed to be excellent riding. ;D

[sizlinseagulsoup]

D.A.R. in Goshen is excellent. I live right around there and have been riding there for ages.

I think I have a savoy map somewhere but I don't reccomend it... the riding is not that nice. I'll look for the map later.

[ruckerz]

DAR in Goshen? Wow that's not that far from here.. Are there trails outside of what the DEM trail map provides? Is there a map available?


Thanks!

[sizlinseagulsoup]

If you look at the new PV-NEMBA (http://pvnemba.thestaticnetwork.com) site, there is directions to the D.A.R. and a map.

At savoy... I am not sure if there are trails outside the DEM map.

[Eric72]

Hi
Also in Amherst is the Amethyst Brook/Mt Orient area 2-3 miles east of the common on Main St. There is a small paved turn out on the left. It's not a large area, but is close and good for short weekday rides. The main trail is a little beat up, but there are some side trails that are not as used. I do not know of any map that shows ALL the trails. If you ride to the top and carry your bike over the last 50 yards or so of large rocks the view is decent. I was just in Savoy this last weekend. We ended up doing a two hour night ride on Savoy Rd and the Florida trail(If memory serves me). It was a washed out, rutted, rocky, muddy, jeep road. Not pretty, but a real challenge, which made it fun. There is some single track there, but the sign posts do not specify wheather or not these are bike trails, so we stayed away.

Eric

[sizlinseagulsoup]

How many miles of trails are there at amethyst Brook?

Is Main Street rt 9?

[ruckerz]

Amethyst Brook is a great place to ride for the weekday trips. Let's see I made it from the entrance on southeast St (?) (Coming from Amherst, it's a left at Amherst Glass) and ending on the (official) parking lot on Amherst Rd took me about 2 hours (but I'm really slow).


Like Eric said, there isn't a great map out there :( E. Barnes has been meaning to get a map of that place. Anyone want to give it a shot? (I would be willing to donate some time for map making or trail building whatever). What does it involve? some GPS equipment or just good ol topo map and compass?

Main St. is not Rte 9. Main St is the street Pasta E Basta / Newbury Comics / Black sheep is on.

Oh yeah keep in mind (and I've been spoken to about this already) that the conservation land is amethyst brook. As soon as you start going up hill, any deviations from the Robert Frost Trail is private property. (Though they don't usually mind just as long as you don't go in their backyards :))

ruckerz


Any of you guys want to get a mellow ride next week at the range or amethyst? I've been meaning to hook up with a group.

[boingboing]

Yea I'm also lookin for somewhere else to ride around here. The only thing I can find is the holyoke range (Bachelor St.) I rode the DAR but it seemed like it was the size of a postage stamp. No map so I must have missed the better trails. I did find one good one there tho it was that new one with the planks.